McCarl Tops MOWA Sprints at Quincy

The Midwest Open Wheel Association 410 sprint cars made their only scheduled stop at Quincy Raceways Sunday night before a packed house. It was supposed to be night three of a weekend swing, but the Saturday show at Pevely,Mo fell victim to the weather. So 27 of the winged warriors signed in at the Bullring to battle for a $2,000 top prize. With specials galore in the area, the other classes were light on cars, but it was a stellar field for the sprint fans to enjoy. Youngster Ryan Robinson from the state of California set quick time in qualifying with a lap of 11.741 seconds around the .29 mile oval, with Jason Perry topping the UMP super late models with a time of 13.197 seconds. Eight heat races and a B-main for the sprints followed by a reworking of the dry slick track surface took us to feature time. The IMCA stock cars were up first, only four cars signed in on this holiday weekend, and Jake Powers was unable to answer the bell for the shortened ten lap event. Dean Kratzer jumped to the early lead, with Jerry Jansen staying close. The two veteran ran side by side for several laps before Kratzer opened up a lead. Coming to the white flag, last weeks winner Brian Hoener brought out the yellow with a spin in turn one setting up a dash to the checkers. Jansen powered ahead on the restart, but bobbled slightly in turn four, with Kratzer charging back to the lead at the stripe. Hoener also got by for second. The sprints were up next for 25 laps. Chris Urich grabbed the early lead for his front row start. On the third circuit, third starting Terry McCarl advanced to second. By lap six the leaders had caught the back of the pack, but the caution flew at a this time. On the single file restart, McCarl pulled a successful slide job to grab the lead and the future Hall of Famer - he will be inducted next Saturday - began to stretch his lead. The red flag came out on lap nine, as Logan Faucon flipped his ride between turns three and four. McCarl again built an advantage on the restart, catching the tail end cars by the half way mark. He was running the high line near the tall cushion, but had to move around the track to negotiate lapped traffic. Urich began to cut into his margin by lap 18, but the red waved again on lap 20 for a collision on the backstretch that saw Jeremy Standridge flip a couple of times. Paul Nienhauser slipped past Urich for second on the restart, but Urich returned the favor ahead of another caution. Back under green for the final six laps, McCarl cruised to the win, holding off Urich, the popular Nienhauser, Joe B Miller, and Jim Moughan. The racing surface was now hard and slick as the UMP late models came to the track for 25 laps. Heat race winner Gord Gundaker, looking for his third win in a row at QR, pulled a four for the invert, putting hard luck Rickey Frankel on the pole alongside Perry. Frankel shot to the lead with his # 33 glued to the bottom line. With the pack dueling behind him, Frankel began to stretch his lead. With the leaders running the preferred low groove, Dustin Griffin moved up the track on lap seven, two laps later Gundaker followed suit. Gundaker took over the runner spot on lap twelve, but two laps later Perry regained the spot. Meanwhile the pair of # 20s, Griffin and Alan Westling ran side by side behind them. Griffin damaged his front end on about lap 17, retiring to the trailer. With no cautions to bunch the field, Frankel cruised to his first win of 2017. Gundaker was second at the checkers over Perry, Westling was solid in fourth, and Denny Woodworth eased past Jamie Wilson at the flag stand. The IMCA sport compacts ran next for 15 laps. Kimberly Abbott looped her ride in turn three on the opening circuit, collecting three other cars, with David Primm heading to the trailer. Back under green, it was Brandon Lambert jumping to the lead. The only other caution came on lap three for Darin Weisinger Jr with a flat on his # 11. Lambert stayed in charge from flag to flag, besting Craig Bangert, Brandon Reu, Barry Taft, and Casey Lambert. The UMP Pro late models and the UMP modifieds had the night off, so the final feature of the night was for the IMCA sport mods. All 16 cars came to the green for 18 laps of action. Bobby Anders shot to the lead from the pole, as Vance Wilson in the Chuck Ancell # 28 powered to second. Brandon Lennox was also on the move, taking second on lap four. One lap later, Lennox stuck his nose under Anders coming off turn four, and the end result saw Wilson go hard into the front stretch fence, and Lennox with heavy damage to the right side of his mount. Both drivers were done for the night. Back to racing, it was now a two car breakaway with Anders and Tony Dunker out front. A yellow flag waved on about lap ten, and back to racing Justin Ebbing joined the front pack. However contact from Austin Howes sent Ebbing for a spin, with both cars going to the tail of the field on the restart. Bak to green, Dunker charged to the lead as Anders bobbled abit, and Dunker was able to open a comfortable advantage. One more caution slowed the action with three circuits remaining, but there would be no catching Dunker. Tanner Klingele made a late race charge to second, Ebbing and Howes rebounded for third and fourth, and Anders settled for fifth. Next Sunday, the UMP super lates and IMCA stock cars are scheduled to have a night off, with 305 sprints set to join the UMP Pro lates, UMP modifieds, IMCA sport mods and IMCA sport compacts on the card. First though, I will be attempting to pull off the MLRA super late model trifecta starting Thursday in Memphis,Mo., then Friday in Donnellson, Iowa, and Saturday in Moberly,Mo. The rumor mill has Show Me 100 winner Bobby Pierce headed to Donnellson, at least! Come on, weatherman, give us a break! Hopefully we will see you somewhere Racin' Down the Road!